This article is not about booking a tour to North Korea.[1] That’s a topic for another day. Rather, this is a study of how articles on tourism in the primary Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) economic journals—Kyo’ngje Yo’ngu and Hakpo (the Journal of Kim Il Sung University (Economics))—reflected and possibly played a role in the regime’s thinking about economic policy between 2012 and 2020.[2] A recent government daily editorial endorsing the cabinet’s leading role in the economy called for: “continuously researching, perfecting and applying optimized economic management methods” by “carrying out discussions broadly and in-depth between academia and functionaries on the ground.”[3]This suggests that the ideas being put forward in North Korea’s economic journals carry policy significance and are intended to have a practical impact.
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